


Firewall.

by coffee666



Series: Bruce/Natasha soul mate series [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Attempted Seduction, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Kissing, Bruce Feels, Crying, Dancing, Declarations Of Love, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Flirting, Intimacy, Mutual Pining, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Office Setting, PDA, Pining, Public Display of Affection, Screaming, Sequel, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Stark Industries, Stark Tower, Unrequited Love, natahsa central, natasha is so done tbh, natasha speaks russian, perfect storms, planning to seduce, russian lines, sort of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-07
Updated: 2015-06-18
Packaged: 2018-04-03 09:14:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4095334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffee666/pseuds/coffee666
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha was now working as IT at Stark Industries. One of the best things about this job was that her soul mate worked just down the hall. One of the worst things was that he found it hard to even look her way, no matter how much he wanted to.</p><p>Sequel to Stud.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Back by unpopular demand: me. 
> 
> This is a sequel to Stud. Though I kinda tried to make it where you can read one without the other.   
> kudos and comments are always appreciated.
> 
> (also follow me on tumblr @scarylett)

 

“And this is your office, Natasha.” Mr. Stark unlocked the door to a large room with glass walls.

Natasha and Clint followed him inside. There was a large desk in the center, complete with a computer, printer and a large chair.

“Wow, this is nice.” Natasha raised her eyebrows in surprise as she looked around. “Now, are you sure about this, Mr. Stark?”

“Of course, we need brains like yours on the team.” He smiled. “Oh, none of that _Mr. Stark_ stuff, it’s Tony, alright?”

“Alright.” Natasha hesitantly sat in the large chair behind the desk. “I really appreciate the opportunity.”

“It’s nothing, really.” Tony said, before turning to Clint. “And you –“ Tony handed him a file. “All of this is what you need to get done this week. Your desk is just outside Pepper’s.”

“Hey wait—“ Clint was looking through the contents of the folder. “I thought Pepper was your assistant.”

“She is.” Tony nodded.

“Well then why am I doing a bunch of her work?” Clint asked.

“Because you’re her assistant.” Tony said.

“Why does your assistant need an assistant?” Clint shook his head.

“Don’t sass me, Barton.” Tony placed a hand on Clint’s shoulder and led him out into the hall.

Alone with her thoughts, Natasha’s mind wandered through the events of the last two weeks. After Bruce had almost destroyed the Starbucks where she and Clint worked, Tony had offered to buy the store and fix it up. But their former boss, Mr. Fury was not keen on selling the place and even less keen on keeping Clint and Natasha around.

So Tony fixed the place, free of charge, and took Clint and Natasha in for employment. Natasha was now in the IT department, which means she’d be answering calls from all over Stark Tower from employees with computer problems. Honestly, it’d be easy for her.

Natasha eyed the phone on her desk. She’d been given a directory of everyone’s name and office phone number in the entire tower, it’d be so easy to find Bruce’s number and give him a call. But what would she say?

_“Hey, remember me? I’m your soul mate and I work here now…”_

She shook her head slightly at the thought. There’s no way that that could be executed without things being awkward. Besides, he still hadn’t called her after the events of recently, and it’d be a cold day in hell before she ever went chasing after him.

Natasha was snapped out of her thoughts when the phone on her desk rang. She put on her best professional face and answered it.

“Stark Industries IT department.” Natasha said.

“You gotta help me…I think I just downloaded a virus.” Bruce sounded urgent.

“I might have to check this out in person.” Natasha lied. Of course, she could use her own desktop to take remote control of his and find the virus, but it’d be more fun in person.

“Alright.” He told her where his office was. “And hurry, Tony’s gonna kill me…”

Natasha was surprised to hear that his office was on the same floor as hers, and she briefly wondered if Tony did that on purpose. She went down the hall and found his door.

“It’s IT.” She said, knocking.

“Come in.”

When she opened the door, Bruce was sitting at his desk with his head in his hands.

“What seems to be the problem?” she asked, unable to keep a smile off her face.

He glanced up at her, his face reddening slightly.

“Oh, I uh…didn’t know you started already.” He said.

“I actually only started like ten minutes ago.” She said, leaning casually against the wall.

“Well, if you’re IT then you gotta give me a hand.” He said, he turned his computer monitor around to show her. “Does this look normal?”

“Holy shit.” She stopped herself from laughing. “What the heck did you do?” The screen was covered in an array of hyperlinks and toolbars.

“You can fix it, though?” he asked hopefully, looking at her with large brown eyes.

“Most likely.” She crossed the room and stood behind his desk.

As she poked around his file explorer, she was aware that was watching her closely. His hands were fiddling nervously, and as she glanced down at them, she could see the first words she ever said to him etched on his wrist.

_Sure thing…stud._

She quickly glanced back up at the screen, her cheeks coloring slightly. After a minute of letting some anti-virus software run, she took a step back.

“Okay, I think it’s fixed.” She told him.

“Really?” he clicked on a few things to make sure. “Thank you so much.

“It’s nothing.” She said, unable to stop smiling.

“No really, it is.” He ran a hand through his unkempt hair. “I mean, what if I somehow fucked up JARVIS?”

“Now _that_ would be a problem, but I could probably fix that too.” She told him.

JARVIS was the operating system designed by Tony himself. It handled everything in the tower from the computers. To the light. She actually doubted that one person downloading a virus could even mess it up. It would take a lot more than that.

“Well, I uh, should probably get back to work.” He said.

“Oh.” Natasha tried to keep her face from falling. “Sure, see you around.”

“Oh wait.” He stood up and went to a filing cabinet. “I have something for you.” He opened the bottom drawer and pulled out her striped hoodie. It was the same one she’d put on him after the incident at Starbucks.

“Thanks.” She took it from him.

When he went back to his desk, she gave him a wave before going back to her office. Even though it wasn’t considered business causal like Pepper told her to dress, she put the hoodie on anyways, reveling in his scent that still clung to the material.

At two, Natasha looked up from her computer to see Pepper walk in. She plopped a cup of coffee down on the desk.

“Need a pick-me-up?” Pepper asked.

“Oh, no thanks. I’m kinda burnt out on coffee.” Natasha shrugged.

“Really? Clint drank like six cups today.” Pepper laughed.

“I think he’s just glad he gets to drink more coffee than he makes, for once.” Natasha laughed.

“So, how was your first day?” Pepper asked.

“Not bad.” She shrugged.

“What?” Pepper cocked her head.

“Did…did Tony put me and Bruce on the same floor on purpose?” Natasha asked.

“Oh, yeah.” Pepper nodded with a laugh. “He thought he was being clever.”

“Well, tell him thanks. I finally got my sweat shirt back.” Natasha smirked.

“Will do.” Pepper turned to leave, leaving the coffee on the desk. “Just in case you change your mind.”

After she was gone, Natasha grabbed the cup and took a sip. She absentmindedly put her hand in the pocket of the hoodie and pulled out a receipt. The date on the receipt was two days past the incident.

The thought that Bruce was wearing her sweat shirt longer than he’d needed to, kept her smiling the rest of the day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What a shame.” She turned back to the screen. “Ya’ know, I took ballet for four years back in Russia.”
> 
> “Oh, really? Russia?” he asked, a small smile crossing his features. 
> 
> “It’s how I’m so good at yoga. I’m very flexible.” She kept side-eyeing him from where she was supposed to be watching the software running on the screen.
> 
> “Oh, that’s uh…really cool.” He said, keeping his head down. Natasha absolutely loved how red he was turning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter dudes. *pops gum* kudos and comments are appreciated, like always.

“Morning.” Natasha opened one eye to see Tony standing in her office doorway. “What are you doing?”

“Yoga.” Natasha raised her arms above her head in the standing tree position. “I try to get a session in most mornings. What’s up?”

“Here.” Tony laid an envelope on her desk. “It’s an invitation to the expo on satuday.”

“Expo?” Natasha breathed slowly as she held the position.

“Yea, it’s where we show off all the latest tech we’ve been working on. I’m talking arc reactors that could power a whole city!” Tony said excitedly.

“Really? A whole city?” Natasha blinked in surprise.

“Well…maybe not a whole city. But maybe a whole neighborhood.” He shrugged. “But there’s also gonna be a huge after party with dancing and stuff. All the employees are gonna be there… _all of them._ ”

“Yea, I get it. You aren’t being subtle.” She smiled, bending over to touch her toes. “I’ll go. It sounds fun.”

“Great.” Tony clasped his hands together. “Well, I gotta go to a meeting. See you…”

Natasha kept practicing her yoga once he was gone, holding each position in time like her instructor taught her. She was so focused, she didn’t open her eyes when she heard another knock at her door.

“Oh—I didn’t know you were busy…” Bruce said, awkwardly pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

“Never too busy for you, Dr. Banner.” Natasha smiled, slowly dropping down into a split and relishing the way he turned red. “What is it?”

“It’s just…I uh, think something’s wrong with my computer again.” He said, looking everywhere in the room but at her.

“Again?” Natasha stood up, grabbing her water bottle off the desk. “I suppose I could take a look.”

“Thanks.” He smiled, wringing his hands in the nervous way he always did.

She followed him down the hall to his office, smirking at the looks other employees were giving her for wearing yoga pants to work. She’d learned a lot about what she could get away with in her month working here. It was probably because she was the most competent IT person on the floor. And because Stark would never fire her for something as trivial as dress codes when he wore Metallica shirts all the time.

Though she couldn’t help but admire Bruce’s work ethic. He came to work every day wearing crisp button-down shirts and a lab coat. Even on Tony’s self-proclaimed “casual Fridays.”

“So what’s the issue?” Natasha wasted no time sitting in the chair behind his desk.

“It’s those toolbars.” He said, standing next to her at the desk and leaning on his elbows. With his sleeved rolled up, she could see the words on his wrist, and since she was in just a t-shirt, hers were exposed as well.

“Hmm…” Natasha went into the control panel, and was soon in the zone, running tests of different software.

“So, uh, did Stark talk to you about the expo on Saturday?” Bruce tried to sound casual, but Natasha saw him start nervously drumming his fingers on the desk.

“Yea, it sounds fun.” She said. “Are you going?”

“I dunno…” he stepped back from the desk and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t like being around big crowds.”

“But you helped Stark invent a lot of the stuff he’ll be showing off, right? You deserve to go and soak up that credit.” She gave him a smile.

“Well, I mostly did the lab research…I mean, I didn’t actually build—“ he trailed off when he saw the look she was giving him.

“There’s going to be dancing.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “You like dancing, right?”

“I uh, don’t really do it well…no.” he shook his head.

“What a shame.” She turned back to the screen. “Ya’ know, I took ballet for four years back in Russia.”

“Oh, really? Russia?” he asked, a small smile crossing his features.

“It’s how I’m so good at yoga. I’m very flexible.” She kept side-eyeing him from where she was supposed to be watching the software running on the screen.

“Oh, that’s uh…really cool.” He said, keeping his head down. Natasha absolutely loved how red he was turning.

The computer gave a beep to indicate that the software was finished running. She closed the program and opened the web browser to see the toolbars were gone.

“Alright, it’s fixed now.” She stood up from the chair.

“Thanks.” He said. “I’m uh, sorry that you keep having to fix it.”

“It’s no big deal.” She crossed her arms. “Seems like you could use company in here anyways.”

“Do you uh, think Tony knows about the virus? Like, will he say anything to me?” he asked hesitantly.

“I doubt it.” Natasha laughed. “I’ve been torrenting movies with Stark’s bandwidth since I started here.”

“Well, thanks anyways.” He gave her a shy smile.

“Just don’t click on any more suspicious links.” She started towards the door before looking back. “And you better come to the expo…I’ll be saving you a dance.”

Back in her office, Natasha walked in to see Clint sitting in her desk and talking on her phone.

“I dunno? Maybe turn it off and back on again?” he said.

“Clint!” Natasha snatched the phone from him. “Why are you answering my phone?”

“Well, you weren’t here…” he started.

Natasha rolled her eyes and put the phone to her ear. “Stark Industries IT…” she helped the person as best as she could before hanging up.

“Why are you in here?” she asked him, before sitting down.

“I had to get away from Tony and Pepper.” He said. “If I walk in on them making out one more time, I’m gonna have to bleach my eyeballs.”

“Some people are so lucky.” Natasha yawned, opening her desk drawer and looking for her pack of gum. “I mean, at least they’re together. Meanwhile I’m doing stupid yoga to get rid of my frustrations, and…other feelings.”

“Banner still playing hard to get?” Clint asked sympathetically.

“It’s whatever…I don’t even care.” Natasha sighed.

“You need to stop saying you don’t care, because obviously you do.” Clint said, calling her bluff.

“Yea well, I’ve decided what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna go to that expo on Saturday, I’m gonna dance with Bruce, and then I’m gonna make out with him. How does that sound?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Clint laughed.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Your friend…” his voice held a hint of amusement. “He’s watching us.”  
> “Is he?” it would be easy for Natasha to angle them away from Clint’s prying eyes, but another idea struck her. She pulled back off of him and looked him in the eyes. “Kiss me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took forever. I was going through some personal stuff.
> 
> as always, tell me what you think. and follow me on tumblr! [here.](scarylett.tumblr.com)

“How about this one?” Pepper held up a blue dress from Natasha’s closet.

“I already told you, I know what I’m going to wear.” Natasha said from where she was sitting on the bed.

“You mean that one?” Pepper side-eyed a black dress that Natasha had hanging on the door knob. “Are you sure? It’s so—“

“Slutty?” Natasha asked, laying back on the pillows with a slight smile on her face.

“I wasn’t going to say that!” Pepper said defensively, her cheeks flushing. “I just think you dress more…classy. This is a company event, after all.”

“Pepper, it’ll be fine.” She closed her eyes. “I’m gonna wear my black dress, and look bomb as hell. Are you honestly gonna complain?”

“I guess not.” Pepper sighed, sitting down at Natasha’s vanity chair.  “I just want this expo to go smoothly. Tony put me in charge.”

“And it will.” Natasha reassured her. “Hmm…if you’re in charge, then what’s Tony doing?”

“He’s still at the office.” Pepper brushed her bangs to the side. “He said he had to check on something…something about someone downloading a virus on JARVIS’ server.”

“Really?” Natasha opened her eyes and starred at the ceiling.

“Yeah, you’re IT, have you seen anything like that?” Pepper tilted her head.

“Uh…sort of. I think?” Natasha sat up. “What kind of virus?”

“I don’t know, but there’s no way anyone would be dumb enough to download the same virus over and over again.” Pepper rubbed her temples. “Sometimes I wonder if Tony even cares who he hires.”

“Are you saying who ever had the virus downloaded it more than once on purpose?” Natasha felt her heart race.

“Yeah, though I don’t really get why.” Pepper shrugged.

“I think I get why…” Natasha couldn’t help but smile.

“What?” Pepper looked up.

“Nothing.”

***

“Knock, knock.” Bruce looked up from his desk to see Tony standing in the doorway.

“Hey, I could use a distraction.” Bruce leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes.

“I need to ask you something. I mean, I doubt it’s you, but I gotta ask anyways…” Tony looked at his phone. “Have you been downloading something called _zippy toolbars_?”

“Uhh….” Bruce coughed nervously. “No…”

“Well I have alerts saying that some people on this floor downloaded that, which is a virus, as well as a ton of movies in Russian.”

“Well uh, whoever downloaded the virus probably did it on accident.” He wrung his hands nervously.

“I can understand the first time on accident, but twice more after that? Nobody is that dumb…”

“Maybe they did it so the IT girl would come to their office or something…” Bruce scratched his head nervously.

“Oh my god.” Tony sighed. “ _You_ did this on purpose just so Natasha would come to your office?! That’s sad…”

“I did not!” Bruce sat up straighter in his chair. “The first time actually was an accident…”

Tony started laughing, leaning against the doorframe.

“That really is sad…” Tony shook his head. “Well, if you like her, remind me against why you don’t wanna come to the expo tonight? There’s gonna be a party afterwards…”

“I told you…I get crowd anxiety.” Bruce rested his chin in his hands.

“And I told you I could spot you some medicine for that…”

“For the last time, I don’t want any pot!”

“Hey, it’s not pot!” Tony was adamant. “It’s medical marijuana.”

“Well, I don’t want any.” Bruce shook his head.

“Please come to the expo. Please? I’ll be your best friend?”

“You already are my best friend.” Bruce smiled. “Alright, I’ll go, but I won’t stay long.”

“Great!” Tony turned to leave, before looking back. “Hey, do you know anything about who’s been downloading Russian movies?”

“Uh, nope.” Bruce tried to hide his smile.

“Oh well…”

 

Natasha clapped a long with everyone else as Tony finished explaining the features of some of the new tech that Stark industries would have to offer next year. Pepper was by his side, scrolling through the diagrams on her tablet that would then appear on the large screen on stage.  


She was honestly surprised at the type of stuff that Stark had invented. There was even a car that was able to fly (well, hover for a few minutes, really.)

Once the expo was over, everyone stuck around for the after party. There were a lot of reporter women who wanted to ask Tony questions and take pictures. Natasha watched in amusement as Pepper trailed after them, a protective look on her face.

Clint stumbled over to where Natasha stood, he had a drink in his hand and was pulling Laura in tow. It’d been a while since she’d seen her.

“Hey.” Laura said as they exchanged hugs.

“How are you?” Laura asked.

“Pretty good, I think I’ve found my calling working here.” Natasha told her.

“That’s great!” she gave Nat a sympathetic smile. “So, how are things with your soul mate? Clint told me you were having trouble…”

“You told her about that?!” Natasha rounded on Clint, putting her hands on her hips.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know it was a secret….” Clint took a sip of his drink.

“Well, I’m gonna go get a drink, and maybe talk to some people who you _didn’t_ tell about my lack of romantic success.” Natasha turned to walk away.

“Oh, well then I wouldn’t talk to any of the guys who work on the fifth floor.” Clint mumbled into his drink.

“Oh my god…” Natasha sighed and crossed the room towards the bar. Everyone was on the dance floor having a good time, aside from one person.

Bruce sat alone at the bar on his phone. He had an untouched drink next to him. Natasha casually slid onto the seat next to him.

“Having fun?” she asked.

“Oh, uh.” He slipped his phone into his jacket pocket. “I was just seeing what the general consensus was on the expo. The news likes to take any chance they can get to bash Tony ever since he stopped building missiles.”

“Well, it’s not like some of that isn’t deserved.” Natasha brushed her red hair over one ear. “Remember a few years back when he showed up to that press conference drunk and eating a cheeseburger?”

“Yeah, that a personal favorite of mine on youtube.” Bruce laughed, and Natasha felt the tension between them melt as she joined in.

“I’m glad that you showed up.” She said, sliding slightly closer.

“How could I say know when you promised me a dance?” she felt her heart swell as he kicked back the rest of his drink. “Hey, can I buy you a drink?”

“Sure thing, stud.” She smiled and turned to the barkeeper. “Vodka, please.”

“Wow…” Bruce laughed.

“What? I’m Russian!” she laughed, knocking back the shot.

“Say something in Russian.” He asked, a teasing tone in his voice.

“Я хочу поцеловать тебя…” she mumbled.

“What does that mean?” he asked.

“You’ll see later…” she whispered with a life.

Natasha ordered another shot and passed it to him.

“Drink this.” She said, raising an eyebrow.

“Why…” he asked, taking it lightly in his hand.

“Because then we can dance.” She didn’t say that it was because she didn’t want to be the only once with vodka breath. “It’ll get you nice and loose.” She laughed.

“Do I wanna be loose?” he asked himself, before downing the shot.

“Of course you do.” She stood up from the bar stool and held out her hand. He took it and stood up. He swayed slightly on his feet, and Natasha raised an eyebrow. “Had a few before I sat down?”

“Don’t ask…” he laughed awkwardly. She pulled them out further onto the dance floor and placed one of his hands on her waist.

Back when she used to teach dancing, she always led with the beginners, even the men. She did the same with Bruce and he didn’t seem to mind.

“Has anyone ever told you that you have no rhythm?” Natasha asked with a laugh.

“Like I said, I don’t dance.” He chuckled, the smell of vodka heavy between them. “You seem to know what you’re doing, though.”

“Oh sure, I almost went pro back in Russia.” She told him as she led them back in a semi-complicated move. He, of course, stumbled slightly. It was only endearing.

“So…professional?” he asked as they slowed slightly. “Any particular style?”

“Ballet was my forte.” She said, taking the slowed pace as an opportunity to rest her head lightly on his shoulder. It was a bold move, but her head was feeling cloudy. He stiffened slightly, then relaxed.

“Why’d you give it up?” he whispered, his mouth now by her ear. She could feel his pulse hard in his neck.

“My parents split up…Yeah, I know how that sounds.” Natasha whispered. Divorce was practically unheard of in a world with soul mates. “And so…my mom used her last dime to take the two of us to America…”

“Sounds tough.” He said, and she closed her eyes.

“It was.” She sighed. “I was thirteen….didn’t have any friends…barely spoke English. I was just this weird mean girl from Russia. So I got into some bad stuff…drinking and stuff. One day it went too far…I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I almost got arrested. There was only one witness…Clint. They asked him if it was me…if I was the one who’d been stealing. Clint could have turned me in…but he made a different call.”

“Wow…That sounds tough.” His voice was heavy.

“It was…but I turned it all around. Wasn’t too good at English so I started doing numbers and coding…that’s how I got into computers…” she subtly grazed her cheek against the fabric over his shoulder. “What about you?”

“Me? It’s not that interesting.” He chuckled. “I grew up in Ohio with a kid sister and a dad who was a doctor. I wanted to follow in his footsteps, and somewhere along the way…I got into some weird research and…--“

 Natasha opened her eyes when he stiffened slightly. She lifted her head off his shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Your friend…” his voice held a hint of amusement. “He’s watching us.”

“Is he?” it would be easy for Natasha to angle them away from Clint’s prying eyes, but another idea struck her. She pulled back off of him and looked him in the eyes. “Kiss me.”

“What?!” it took him a split second to process what she said. His cheeks flushed as he stared down at her with widened eyes.

“Let’s give him something to look at.” She said cockily, raising an eyebrow.

“Uh, I-I don’t think that’s such a good idea…” he dropped his hands from her and stepped back. “I think this was a mistake.”

She felt a knot in her stomach as he stepped back from her. He wrung his hands like he always did when he was nervous, and when he spoke his voice shook.

“I-I’m sorry…”

“N-no…I get it.” She said, turning away quickly. “I really don’t care…”

She kept her head down to hide the tears pricking at her eyes as she moved through the crowd. She pushed open the door to the women’s rest room and sat down in one of the stalls.

She couldn’t remember the last time she actually cried. She usually masked her sadness with anger, but that only made her lash out at people. No wonder he didn’t like her, she was a mess…too cold, too mean, not like other girls.

“Natasha?” Pepper’s voice echoed off the linoleum walls and Natasha lifted her feet up so Pepper wouldn’t see her under the door.

“Nat!?” Clint’s voice surprised her.

She stood up and walked out of the stall. Pepper and Clint looked at her in surprise when they saw the tears on her cheeks.

“This is the girl’s room! Get out!” her voice broke and she wiped her eyes with a swipe of her wrist.

“Are you okay? I saw what happened—“ Pepper sounded worried.

“Great, so everyone was watching us!?” Natasha slammed her fist into the wall and Pepper stepped back. “Mind your own business!”

“We’re only trying to help! We’re worried about you!” Pepper said.

“Don’t! I don’t care about him anyways…” Natasha went to the sinks and braced her hands against the cold porcelain. She could see in the mirror that her makeup was running.

“Stop saying that!” Clint raised his voice. “Obviously you do care!”

“Well, I hate that!” she turned around and went for the door. “I’m going home.”

“I could give you a ride—“ he started, but the she didn’t answer as the door swung closed behind her.

“Natasha…” Bruce was waiting for her outside the bathroom. She ignored him, walking straight past him and towards the front doors.

“Please, I want to talk to you.” He said as he followed her.

“Well, I don’t want to talk to you!” she didn’t look at him.

The street outside was dark, and the sound of the party was muffled. Natasha’s heels clicked on the sidewalk as she marched on.

“Please, you have to understand—“ Bruce was right behind her, pleading in his voice.

“I understand.” She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. “I understand that all you care about is yourself!”

“No! I’m trying to protect you!” he carded his hands through his wild hair before closing some of the space between them. “You know that I am…”

“What? A giant monster sometimes?” she didn’t try to keep her voice down. “You honestly think I give a shit?!”

“But I might hurt you!” he gestured frantically, willing her to understand.

“No! You can’t – you didn’t, back at the café…” she lowered her voice.

“But who knows what would have happened if—“

“If _I_ wasn’t the one to calm you down.” Natasha kept her head down, but lifted her eyes to his. “I was the one who was able to save you.”

“Save me? But it was everyone else who was in danger…” his voice was shaking again.

“I can protect you.” She said. “I know it’s hard to let people in. I know that more than anyone, but sometimes—“

Her breath hitched in her throat as he gently placed his large hands on either side of her face. She shivered slightly as his thumbs slowly stroked her cheeks.

“What?” she breathed. “Are you angry?”

It was a jerky movement, not smooth or fluid when he his mouth was on hers. Obviously he didn’t really know what he was doing, but as someone who studied all day and didn’t try to even look for their soul mate, she wasn’t surprised.

His mouth was hot against her, his lips parted slightly. She closed her eyes, feeling like the blush on her cheeks could illuminate the dark streets.

She didn’t know what was coming off the girl who could usually stay so cool, because she couldn’t help but start giggling against his lips. She pulled back slightly and their noses bumped.

“I-I’m sorry.” He said, his hands still on her face.

“N-no, no. I’m sorry.” Giggles still trembled her voice.

“Maybe I should just go home…” he removed his hands.

“Or,” she found her cool once more. “We could go to my place.”

 


End file.
